Tucker Valley’s middle school football team opened their season last Thursday as they traveled to Flatwoods, W.Va., to take on Braxton County Middle School.
Tucker got the ball to start the game, but the drive was stalled when promising 6th grader Kace Nestor went down with a season-ending injury to his left arm. After the lengthy delay and wave of emotions, Tucker was unable to punch the ball into the end zone, and Braxton County took over.
The home team was forced to punt, but the ball was muffed, giving the Knights possession inside Wildcat territory. Two plays later, Braxton County scored on an eight-yard pass across the middle, giving them the early lead, 6-0. Tucker would answer the bell on the next drive as Braxton White would power in from two yards out. With a successful two-point try, Tucker would take the lead into the half, 8-6.
The Wildcats would come out in the second half on a mission as they stopped the Knights on the opening drive of the half, and then Noah White would find a huge running lane behind the right side of his offensive line (Luke Lantz, Brantlee “Bull” Rosier, and Ashton Arnett), where he would take it in from 45 yards out. With the score, Tucker was up 14-6.
The following possession on defense saw what may have been the game’s most exciting play as 8th grader Braylon Simmons sank to the flats in pass coverage and intercepted a pass, taking it 51 yards to pay dirt and extending the Wildcat lead to 20-6. The onslaught would continue as Tucker’s Easton Phillips completed a successful onside kick, and Noah White would go to work again, this time behind Tristan Pitzer and Gunner Lester, as the speedster scampered in from 39 yards out to make the score 26-6 at the end of the third period.
The Wildcats, however, were not finished as they punched in one more score in the fourth period, as again Noah White broke loose, this time from 34 yards out, to settle in the final score at 32-6. Tucker rattled off 32 straight unanswered points in the game and held their opponent to under 100 yards of total offense. Noah White steadied the ground game for Tucker on 14 carries for 224 yards and three touchdowns; twin brother Braxton followed with eight carries, 47 yards, and a touchdown.
The Wildcats will hit the road again this week as they will travel to Pocahontas County on Wednesday, Sept. 9, for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
